Spending money on bikes! 'Rant'
 

Man! riding your bike and commuting to works suppose to be cheaper than driving your car right? Well that doesnt seem to be the case in my experience so far.:notamused:

Well just like every good commuter I got a mountain bike to commute during the winter months, sure I had to get it ready for snow season so had to buy studded tires $100 each tire
a dyno hub plus lights $325 + additional lights because it is really dark where I work $150

Winter is over and who like to be carrying a heavy mountain bike right? well got me a road bike for the summers spring and fall months. For safety reasons I need lights on it so Another dyno hub plus lights $325 additional lights $30 just $30 because I was able to transfer some lights from the mountain bike. And yeah that road bike needed a tune up so it $75 at the friendly LBS.
During my commute last week two spokes from the real wheel broke so back to the shop and who knows how much that will be.

So back to the mountain bike while the road bike is being fix, the comfort seat post that bike has felt a part and back to the shop I went to get a new one $40 for a seat post. :mad:

I don't even know how to explain to my wife where that money is going. And I still need to get a new rear wheel on my road bike which currently has a 27 inch but I want to match the 700c the front wheel has with the dyno hub. That will be what? another $100 if I find a rear wheel on the cheap.

It is crazy man, Crazy! I didn't even add the cost on cargo rack+fenders+panniers for the two commuters on this post. How do you guys deal with that?

Sorry I am just not feeling too awesome about it so I had to vent here. thank you for letting me do so.

Add up the cost of registering, insuring, and maintaining a car in addition to any payment, excise taxes, depreciation, gas, tolls, parking, etc. and compare that to your bike budget. You are most definitely going to be ahead of the game at the end of the year. If you invest in some tools and start performing your own maintenance you'll realize even more savings.

You spent over $800 on lights for 2 bikes? Huhhhh???

I do almost all my riding at night and I got 2 cygolite Metros for just over $100 and a hot shot 2 for $25. I have 4 bikes and I can switch all 3 lights from bike to bike in about 2 minutes.

I don't think commuting costs is the problem I think your just scared of the dark..
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Sounds like you spent a lot of money on lighting. Given this is the day and age of rechargable LED lights, what are the benefits of a dynamo hub exactly? I used to ride with a dynamo as a kid, but that was when battery lights ran on 2 Ds and usually gave out after a couple of hours. My Cygolight Metro will stay on and bright for many more hours than I can ride in a day. I could plug it in every night if I needed to use it (I rarely do, I'll admit). Best thing vs a dynamo is it's easy to swap these lights between bikes. I have 3 bikes, and only one set of lights.

I can see the use of a dynamo on something like a touring bike, but not a commuter.

I think lights are important for the commute it is really dark where I work and I have extra lights so even the distracted driver can see me. I have a NiteRider rechargeable light set for front and a blinking one for the back but the charge it is not enough so by the time I am getting to my destination is already failing.
I know I have spent on lights more than what my two bikes cost but the drop that made the cup run over is the $40 for a stupid seat post.

Thank you for the replies I will get over this, I am just tire of seeing bills slip of my hands like water right now.

Well at least you have two bikes, and all the gear for them so you shouldn't incur any further costs for a while.

That's a positive. With a car, you're always paying for gas, oil changes, and other recurring costs.

"I'm saving money on gas and maintenance, and you can't put a price on my health."

I spent the money to get a dynamo (required a wheel rebuild) and then got a new bike a few months later (removing that hub and building a new wheel again).

It is 100% worth it to me as it gets rid of the worry of charging your lights and not having a charge. Also the Dynamo hubs have little drag and LED lighting these days. It makes your bike a worry free choice. You will not want to go back to rechargeables after using a good Dynamo hub.

Yeah. It's true. Bikes and parts are expensive. The health benefits are the big payoff to me. I work a sit-down job. Bikes get me outside and provide much-needed exercise. I've been off the bike for two seasons. My health and fitness has suffered as a result. I'd gladly pay the cost of a spendy new bike to get back what I had two years ago. So when I'm riding them, bikes are worth every penny.

Only 2 bikes? That's it? Do your own work. My gas costs $2.55 a gallon now. Over the last 6 years I have averaged 2,000 bike commuter miles each year. You do the math. Got good health? Nothing more costly than sitting on your butt and eating a bag of chips. BP 110/60 for years now. Studded tires should last 5-10 years. Cheers & pedal on.

We generally don't spend that much on parts and accessories for commuter bikes. We're too cheap for that.

A dynamo hub for example might be cool, but then again I wouldn't care for the extra weight and slight drag. Not all of the time anyway. So a light plus battery (brighter than yours) is $20 not $470. Tune-up is free, spokes are a few bucks each (DIY). A cheap but serviceable rear wheel is half or a third of what you expect.

So, to answer your question: we don't.

Looks like I live in the wrong part of the world for bicycle commuting.

You forgot to mention how much fun it is to ride your bike twice a day.

OK, you've sunk two car payments (more or less) into bike commuting. Call half of that hobby cost (you could be sitting in traffic instead of enjoying yourself). Now get set to spend that much more over the next year. If you can put off buying a new car for a year because you're cycling to work, you will have saved 9 months' car payments.

no love here i guess. :lol: but really, it sounds a bit like someone complaining about the price of diamond encrusted fishing rods.

I get the need to be seen which is why I ride with 2 550 lumen lights for a total of 1100 possible lumens. I usually only ride with one on at a time and the other blinks. However you logic doesn't seem to justify the costs. I tested my bike lights in pitch dark and I can see my bike light blinking .25 miles away from behind. From the front it's much more than that. So anything more than what you have is just overkill. Plus with my current lights I can ride for more than 4 hours before they start to fail. I doubt you have a commute in the dark both ways for more than 4 hours.

I think everything I bought it is because it is needed for the trip to work. And I am ok paying a premium price for things that I consider absolutelly necesary like the power generators those are ok. But other things I consider over priced like that $40 seat post. I guess I was not ready to spend that much for it. But I had to buy it or I would have to go to work without a saddle on my bike.
I even try to get it for free at the local bike Co-Op where you get the parts for free if you sign for volunteering time for a weekend and they didnt have the right diameter, I still signed for volunteering anyway hoping to get something good from the experience.

And yeah you guys keep bringing it up, I still own a vehicle and I am paying monthly fees for it.

And by the way guys. I am not trying to start a fight with anyone here, I am just expressing my feelings right now and I really appreciate all the positive reply here on this threat. It is just that at the moment the often say "Ride your bike it is cheaper than drive" its not making sense to me
That is all.
Thank you.

Sure, whatever. Nobody here would know anything about what you have to go through, right?

So, if all of your expenditures are absolutely necessary what is there to complain about.

I think his wife wants him to walk.

This.

Heck parking alone here is $10 per day. That is $50 a week...or $2500 a year right there gone. Never mind the insurance and gas.

Not paying for parking I could buy a new bike every year and still break even. Every activity or hobby has a startup cost.

It's OK. I think that the consensus is that you may be doing it wrong. :P For me, with the bikes I ride, it is far cheaper than driving..and that includes the lights! I spent some 70 bucks on three good lights that I move around... and a bunch of cheap Chinese blinkers and LED flashlights.

I started on two free from freecycle old Schwinn cruisers. I eventually bought a loop and a mixte (after I had to get rid of a cruiser and rebuild the other old bike-which is still waiting for a part) and a cheap new Schwinn cruiser for less than my brother's monthly cig budget for the snow. Even after I added nice saddles and racks it's still been far less then what we spend on that damn car we own.

Oh, these are the bright lights I own. Serious light on these. My old crackhead neighbors thought I was the cops more than once. :D It was hilarious, how they'd scatter.

I bought in winter so I got sale price. :P

Planet Bike 2 Watt Blaze Micro Front White Superflash Turbo LED Rear Light Set | eBay

Well, you certainly could have gotten a perfectly good seat post on ebay for $15, $20 max. I paid $16.50 for the Bontrager SSR alloy post I used in my recent Paramount build. The reality is, a lot of bike stuff costs much more new than it does 2nd hand, even in very lightly used condition.

I wouldn't spend so little.

Here's a $65 seat post:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=450972

You'll notice there's no saddle on it because the design was bad leading to a broken bolt after just 3415 miles. I had to stuff the saddle in my jersey pocket (wide end first, because it fell out when I tried nose first) and ride home without one.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=450973

I replaced the class 10.9 bolts with 12.9 having 20% higher yield and broke the front bolt again after 1693 miles when I weighed 148 pounds.

I told the manufacturer their design was bad and sent it back in case they wanted to investigate, then bought an $85 seat post which uses a male wedge on the post and female wedge on the cradle like a classic Campagnolo part, except brand new and without a vintage price tag.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=450974

That one didn't keep the seat tilted like I set it so I made it "really tight" with my regular length 6mm Allen wrench. That failing, I got a long hex key and made it "really tight." That still didn't work so I tried 16 newton meters using a torque wrench.

That seems fine so far, but I fear getting uncomfortable on a long ride or over compensating on adjustment (my right knee where I had a tibial nail installed is very sensitive to saddle height) and am going to upgrade to a $110 (used) Campagnolo Record SP-10RE seatpost with a clamp mechanism identical to my C-Record aero post, but round all the way up so I can insert it far enough into my frame with the newer version of my saddle that sits higher above its rails.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=450981

Maybe you just shouldn't buy overpriced junk. A seat-post that costs that much doesn't cost so much because it's strong, it costs so much because it's ultra-light, which in many cases means it's weaker than less costly components.

If you woulda got a spring summer fall bike with 26" wheels like your mountain bike, you coulda saved a mountain of money. Just sayin. Unfortunately, I bought of this too late as well-after buying the Trek 520 with 700 wheels. If I'd gone with a LHT or another tourer, I coulda swapped out the front wheel to the tandem bike and the mountain bike. Silly me.:bang:

Thank you all for the support. I am just frustrated, I guess buying that seat post just ruined for me. I have to admit though I haven't been the smartest shopper, for sure second hand stuff would have save some cash. I did buy the bikes used so I saved some there. But I needed to buy that seat post because if I had to wait for an ebay purchase to be delivery I would had to miss going to work.
Before our company moved out of town I didn’t bother buying lights and stuff to carry cargo on my bikes because it was just like three miles commute but now riding into the country roads has changed everything for me.

So I bought that darn thing and I didn’t miss work today and tomorrow I am again back on the saddle logging miles for the national bike challenge.

Thank you.